YNSPIRACopilot in PowerPoint
Microsoft
Copilot in PowerPoint helps you create and improve presentations without building every slide from scratch. You can produce a first draft from a description or an existing document, get help rewriting content, and ask Copilot to make changes directly in the presentation.
Who has access to Copilot in PowerPoint?
Organisations with the M365 Copilot (Premium) add-on licence have access to the full functionality in Copilot in PowerPoint. We call this version Premium for the rest of this article.
Many people on qualifying Microsoft 365 subscriptions without the Copilot Premium add-on also have standard access to Copilot in PowerPoint. Which Copilot experience you get depends on your licence type and your organisation's settings.
What it is best at
Copilot in PowerPoint works best when you already have the content but need help turning it into a presentation.
If you have a report, a Word document or a note from a project, you can ask Copilot to build a first draft with slides, text, any images or graphics, and speaker notes. It saves time on the first draft and gives you something solid to work on from there.
It is also useful on existing presentations. You can ask Copilot to add a new slide, cut down one that is text heavy, rewrite the content for a different audience or tidy up the structure. With "Edit with Copilot" it can make the changes directly in the presentation instead of just describing what you should do.
Copilot can also suggest how to improve the presentation, for example pointing out slides that are unclear or overloaded, or proposing questions the audience might ask so you can prepare good answers in advance.
Who is it for?
Copilot in PowerPoint works well for project managers, consultants, salespeople, communications staff, managers and anyone else who builds presentations regularly.
It is especially useful if you spend a lot of time going from a document or a set of notes to a first PowerPoint draft.
What does not work so well
Copilot is good at producing a starting point, but expect further editing and polishing to be necessary before the presentation is good enough.
When it generates many slides at once, the result is often fairly generic. It can use too much text, emphasise the wrong things, or build a structure that does not quite fit the story you want to tell. Images and graphics can also be generic and do not always match the content.
Large or complicated presentations can also be harder for Copilot to handle as a single task.
How to use it
Open PowerPoint and start a new presentation or open an existing one. Click the Copilot icon to open the chat in the right hand panel.
If you are starting from scratch, reference relevant notes, reports, meeting minutes or other files to give Copilot the context it needs. The "/" command is a quick way to point to existing files.
Choose "Edit with Copilot" if you want changes made directly in an existing presentation rather than just answers from Copilot in the chat.
Features
Presentation content from text
Creates a first draft of a presentation based on a description or an existing document.
Editing existing presentations
With "Edit with Copilot" you can make changes directly in existing presentations, such as changing text, structure and images or adding new slides.
Summaries
Gives you a summary of a long presentation and answers questions about the content.
Automatic speaker notes
Generates speaker notes on request. They go straight into the speaker notes area in PowerPoint.
Using Copilot, but not for what matters most?
We help your team use it on the tasks that matter in their work.
Tips for good use
- Start with the content, not the design. Give Copilot the report, document or notes the presentation is built on and you get a better first draft than from a general prompt.
- Tell Copilot who you are presenting to so it can match tone and style to the right audience.
- Choose "Edit with Copilot" if you want changes made directly in an existing presentation rather than just answers from Copilot in the chat.
- Be specific and break the work into smaller tasks when you edit an existing presentation with Copilot. "Sharpen the message on slides 6 and 7" is easier to handle than asking Copilot to improve the whole deck.
- Always review the presentation yourself. Copilot is good at a first draft, but it does not know what matters most to your particular audience.
Available on
Links and pricing
Available on qualifying Microsoft 365 subscriptions. Premium requires a separate Microsoft Copilot add-on licence. ($30 per user/month)
AI is an assistant, not an authority. Always verify what matters.